When you follow sport closely, you are bound to have mood swings. It is a form of addiction. When it comes to an individual, it gets worse. You blatantly defy logic and are often in a state of denial. Your heroes don't have flaws. Your heroes don't have expiry dates. Coming of age,especially for sporting icons, is a difficult phase for not only him but also his ardent fans. As it becomes brutally evident,a man, who used to pull so many tricks from his bag and entertain the crowd is now at the backstage, watching an younger version of him stepping into his shoes, you have to mature. All legends and their fans must go through this recovery process.
MS Dhoni literally burst into the scene with explosive shots and a 21st century hair-do. The transformation has been quite evident. The grey hairs tell tales. The tales of a successful captain. People tend to think that success eliminates pressure. Ask all the star performers and you would immediately understand that the weight of expectations far exceed the fear of failures. If you start failing, your bar is set. You no longer have to be better than what you were at your best (comfort zone). However, success pushes you. This is where reality strikes. The human element, especially in a team game, comes to the forefront. There is only so much a person can do which is eventually going to be "not enough".
People have been doing horizontal, vertical and cross sectional analysis of Dhoni for years now and still no knows what he is up to. How can someone be so involved yet so detached? How can someone be so successful yet shy away from the limelight? How can someone do no wrong and own up to all mistakes? How can someone not have an MBA and be one of the best leaders of all time? Well, of course, it is MS. You can't understand him. Neither his tactics nor his traits. May be there is a method to his madness that is beyond our comprehension or may be it is so fundamental that our "trained" brains have gone agnostic to. He has been a puzzle and he would continue to be. The maturity of his fans has stemmed from this belief. He never demands it but we feel indebted. For he has given us so much joy over the years.
The 5th ODI against Australia is a classic example of an MS Dhoni fan coming of age. He struggled. He mis-timed his shots. He was dropped. It was ugly to see one of the best finishers of all time not being able to hit a single boundary for overs together. The time was running out. The end was near. The match and Dhoni's career seemed to co-exist in a single morphed state. It was the last over. Dhoni was on strike. A lot of people were secretly wanting him in the non-striker end. The bowler ran in and it was a low full toss. MS Dhoni dismissed it over long off! Is that a six? Yes. Is he back? Not really. Is that enough? Yes. He gets out later but the match has been won. The war was already lost but the leader was still alive. Bruised, Battered, Old but alive.
Fans went to rest. Smiles for the first time after a hard-fought series... All the cries for the head have been silenced.
The next battle begins and India white wash Australia in the T20 series. Dhoni takes the cup and hands it over to Bumrah and goes to the background. Things aren't quite the same but they never will be.For all the inquisitive minds, would it have been different had the ball was caught at long off and had India the lost match? May be. May be not. For Dhoni, it is business as usual. For all his fans, our leader survives and will live to fight till retirement do us apart.
MS Dhoni literally burst into the scene with explosive shots and a 21st century hair-do. The transformation has been quite evident. The grey hairs tell tales. The tales of a successful captain. People tend to think that success eliminates pressure. Ask all the star performers and you would immediately understand that the weight of expectations far exceed the fear of failures. If you start failing, your bar is set. You no longer have to be better than what you were at your best (comfort zone). However, success pushes you. This is where reality strikes. The human element, especially in a team game, comes to the forefront. There is only so much a person can do which is eventually going to be "not enough".
People have been doing horizontal, vertical and cross sectional analysis of Dhoni for years now and still no knows what he is up to. How can someone be so involved yet so detached? How can someone be so successful yet shy away from the limelight? How can someone do no wrong and own up to all mistakes? How can someone not have an MBA and be one of the best leaders of all time? Well, of course, it is MS. You can't understand him. Neither his tactics nor his traits. May be there is a method to his madness that is beyond our comprehension or may be it is so fundamental that our "trained" brains have gone agnostic to. He has been a puzzle and he would continue to be. The maturity of his fans has stemmed from this belief. He never demands it but we feel indebted. For he has given us so much joy over the years.
The 5th ODI against Australia is a classic example of an MS Dhoni fan coming of age. He struggled. He mis-timed his shots. He was dropped. It was ugly to see one of the best finishers of all time not being able to hit a single boundary for overs together. The time was running out. The end was near. The match and Dhoni's career seemed to co-exist in a single morphed state. It was the last over. Dhoni was on strike. A lot of people were secretly wanting him in the non-striker end. The bowler ran in and it was a low full toss. MS Dhoni dismissed it over long off! Is that a six? Yes. Is he back? Not really. Is that enough? Yes. He gets out later but the match has been won. The war was already lost but the leader was still alive. Bruised, Battered, Old but alive.
Fans went to rest. Smiles for the first time after a hard-fought series... All the cries for the head have been silenced.
The next battle begins and India white wash Australia in the T20 series. Dhoni takes the cup and hands it over to Bumrah and goes to the background. Things aren't quite the same but they never will be.For all the inquisitive minds, would it have been different had the ball was caught at long off and had India the lost match? May be. May be not. For Dhoni, it is business as usual. For all his fans, our leader survives and will live to fight till retirement do us apart.
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